We will be at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Spring Expo 2012 “Learning to Grow…Growing to Learn”, which runs from March 9-11. Because our March meeting is scheduled for March 11th, we decided it would be fun to hold our meeting at the show. If you need directions to the Arbo or just want more information about the Expo check out their website at: https://www.arboretum.umn.edu/SpringExpo2012.aspx

The Expo should be a lot of fun. The first day is about veggie seed saving from the esperts at the Seed Savers Exchange (https://www.seedsavers.org/). And the next two days are when we’ll be there along with horticultural societies of all sorts. So, if you know you love roses or irises and think you might like carnivorous plants too, this would be the perfect opportunity to explore your diverse interests. Oh, and they also have a flier with more info that you can check out too, MN Arbo Spring Expo Flier 2012.

But wait there’s more. If watching great presentations on gardening, seeing our smiling faces, and getting to talk about carnivorous plants is not enough for you, then we have one last little incentive. Free plants! Some of our members have been nice enough to propagate and donate some great plants for beginners, and we are going to give them away for free to interested people while they last.

We’ve included a few pictures of the sundews we’ll have available in this post, but we will also have some butterworts, and possibly some bladderworts and venus fly traps too. But they will only last so long. If you aren’t sure what all of the plants are that I’ve listed, all the more reason to stop by and ask.

The plants are not yet mature, but with a little basic care, they will grow fast. But they are all ready to start catching pesky insects in your house! If you aren’t sure how to care for these beauties, we have that covered too. We won’t let you leave without answering all your questions about how to care for your new pet. Plus we’ll give you a little instruction card to take home so you don’t have to remember everything we’ve said.

Yup we even provide a cheat sheet. And as always, if you want to know any more details, whether they be about the Spring Expo, our other activities, or just have questions about carnivorous plants or our orginization please send us an e-mail at our yahoo.com account, username umcps

The last piece of news for this lengthy post is that we are now certain to be at the Minnesota State Fair! The Minnesota Horticultural Society, who runs the Horticultural exhibits, has kindly agreed to let us take up some of their space. The horticultural exhibits only run for the first two days of the fair, so mark your calendars for Thursday, August 23rd and Friday August 24th. We hope to see all of you there.